(AP Photo / Nardus Engelbrecht)
This is a regularly updated story with the latest information on the coronavirus and its impact in Arizona and beyond for January 18, 2021.
PHOENIX – Health officials in Arizona reported 5,400 new cases of coronavirus and no additional deaths from COVID-19 on Monday.
The state’s documented totals rose to 679,282 COVID-19 infections and 11,265 fatalities after one death was removed due to duplication of data, according to the health department’s dashboard.
Arizona is currently leading in the country in cases and has the second highest number of COVID-19 deaths per capita in the past seven days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
The state’s COVID-19 hospital admissions have started to decline after climbing to record levels earlier last week.
The number of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients in Arizona fell for the sixth consecutive day to 4,752 on Sunday, the lowest number since Jan. 3. The number of IC beds used by COVID-19 patients decreased by 21 to 1,097.
Statewide, suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients occupied 55% of all hospital beds, as on Saturday, and 61% of all IC beds on Sunday, a 1% decrease from the previous day.
In total, IC beds were 93% full, while hospital beds were 92% full.
Arizona’s weekly percent positivity for COVID-19 diagnostic tests, an indicator of how much the virus is spreading in the community, has dropped since it hit an all-time high two weeks ago.
Of the 141,433 people tested last week, 20% got a positive result. The positive rate for the past week was 22%, compared to a pandemic-high 24%.
Official positivity rates are based on when the samples are taken, not when they are reported, so the rate for the past few weeks may fluctuate as labs are testing and the results are documented by the state.
The seven-day moving average for the state health department’s newly reported coronavirus was 7,905 for Sunday, falling for the fifth straight day, according to tracking by The Associated Press.
The seven-day mean of newly reported COVID-19 deaths dropped to 160.71 on Sunday, dropping by 13 from Saturday.
The state updates current case, death, and test data daily after the state receives and confirms statistics, which can delay several days or more. They do not reflect actual activity for the past 24 hours.
The hospital admission data posted each morning is reported electronically the night before by 100 hospitals across the state, as required under executive order.
COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, does not affect some people and is seriously disabling or fatal to others. Infected people without symptoms – including but not limited to a cough, fever, and difficulty breathing – can spread the virus.
Diagnostic tests are available at hundreds of locations around Arizona and should be sought by anyone with symptoms or who may have been exposed to an infected person. Information on locations, schedules, and registration can be found on the Department of Health Services website.
The department also has a vaccine finder page with a map of active and pending locations and links to registration websites.
Below are Monday’s latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic from around the state, country and world:
- According to research from Johns Hopkins University, there were approximately 95.1 million COVID-19 cases and 2.03 million deaths on Monday morning worldwide. The figures for the US were about 23.9 million cases and 397,611 deaths.